Fragrance

Please Don’t Tocca My Bianca Eau de Parfum Viaggio Set

November 2nd, 2010 by Karen 35 Comments

These little treasures of antiquity are three of Tocca Bianca’s fresh floral scents. I’ve been wanting to try these and the rest of the line for centuries, but I’ve been paralyzed by all of the options at Sephora. I think they call it stimulus overload… Don’t you hate it when that happens?

I’m glad I pulled it together in time for Sephora’s Friends & Family sale. I took advantage of it to snag this trio of scents, called the Eau de Parfum Viaggio set, and its three lovely bottles of deliciousness, 0.51-oz. Tocca Stella, Florence and Cleopatra.

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Lush Gorilla Perfumes: Gorillas in a Mist AND Solid Stick Form

October 28th, 2010 by Karen 65 Comments

I’ve been trying to get behind the new Lush Gorilla fragrances mostly because I love, LOVE the packaging.

But there’s one thing I don’t get…

What’s up with the gorilla?

Well, not this particular one here. I mean the use of Gorilla in the name. I just don’t get the reference. None of them smell like gorilla, or how I imagine a gorilla would smell, and the sleek black packaging just doesn’t scream great ape to me.

I’ve sniffed five of the six scents, each of them available in spray and solid stick form — Imogen Rose, Lust, Orange Blossom, The Smell of Freedom and Tuca Tuca — and with the exception of Orange Blossom, which smells like the jasmine plant in my front yard (DIVINE!), I’m not in love.
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Viktor & Rolf’s Fragrant Flowerbomb Bursts with Beauty

October 9th, 2010 by Karen 17 Comments

Written by Katie

Always exercise caution when playing with extravagant explosives. Take it from Blogger Katie of My Lips But Better, as she pulls the pin on one such Flowerbomb in her guest post today.

Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb
Doesn’t the bottle look warm and inviting?

I’m not a big perfume collector, but Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb ($100 for 1.7 fl. oz) was an instant hit with me.

Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb

Seems a little strange considering the name, but Flowerbomb is actually less flowery than you might think. When I first spray it on me or in the air, I get some jasmine, freesia, and rose, but very quickly that subsides into creamy vanilla, bergamot, and patchouli. Not the dirty hair patchouli either – just a hint of spicy goodness. The scent is so cozy that I often spritz a bit right before bed to help me relax.

Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb

Viktor & Rolf got a little cheeky with this packaging. If you’re more observant than I was, you’ll see it’s a tiny pink grenade with diamond-like facets. Who would’ve thought that a tiny pink grenade could carry so much loveliness? It’s a little over the top, but it definitely brings an element of luxury to my dresser.
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Dolce & Gabbana Rose the One Shower Gel and Body Lotion

October 8th, 2010 by Karen 17 Comments

If you were planning to pick up a dozen bottles of Dolce & Gabbana’s new Rose the One body products this month, I hate to break it to ya, but the Saks website says “No can do,” (in so many words).

Because of high demand, they’re limiting customers to just six (!) bottles of either the Body Lotion ($38 for 6.7oz) or Shower Gel ($38 for 6.7oz) every 30 days.

Yep, six bottles every 30 days.

Why anyone would need six bottles of this or any body lotion or shower gel is neither here nor there. 🙂

Both new products are scented with softened versions of the company’s Rose the One fragrance, with its notes of pink grapefruit, Mandarin orange, peach, lily of the valley, Bulgarian Rose, peony, geranium, plum, Ambrette seed, vanilla, amber and musk.

It’s a light fragrance — modern, youthful and fresh — and not heavy or matronly.

The Body Lotion feels thin, and while I usually prefer thicker creams, I like this reasonably hydrating, fast absorbing formula. It doesn’t leave a greasy residue, either, which is nice.
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I’m Holding on to Calvin Klein Beauty Eau de Parfum

October 6th, 2010 by Karen 19 Comments

This is probably gonna sound strange (what else is new?), but I like to just hold this bottle of Calvin Klein’s new Beauty ($65 for a 1.7-oz. spray) in my hands while I go about my day. It’s oddly comforting, in a gigantic glass talisman or Magic 8 Ball sort of way.

Beauty’s a warm, spicy floral with notes of lily, jasmine, ambrette (a musky plant from India) and cedar. I think the lily gives it a crisp, invigorating edge that keeps the spicier cedar and musk from taking the scent straight to the boudoir.
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I’m Guilty of Loving Gucci: Gucci Guilty Eau de Toilette

September 17th, 2010 by Karen 18 Comments

gucci guilty review

I admit it. I have a ~~guilty~~ Gucci conscience, and I’ve had it for years.

It all started with Gucci Envy back in 1999. I was a young 20-something lass living it up in San Francisco, you know, working for the weekends, and I wore Envy almost every day until my sketchy kleptomaniac roommate swiped the bottle from my room (I guess it really did cause some envy).

That’s around the time I moved, and when I did, I changed more than apartments and roommates; I also changed fragrances, switching to Gucci Rush.

I remember it well because I rushed (haha!) to Sephora to buy a bottle of it on my lunch break the day it came out.

Fast forward 10 years. I live in the suburbs now, about 30 minutes from San Francisco, and one of my roommates is a cat, but Gucci still occupies my mind (and space on my fragrance shelf).

Lately I’ve been spending time with yet another Gucci scent, the new Gucci Guilty ($75 for a 1.7oz eau de toilette), and I wonder what milestones this one will mark.

Perhaps I’ll be wearing it when I buy that winning lottery ticket or (gulp!) learn I’m gonna be a mom. 🙂 Who knows? For now, I’ll just enjoy it for what it is — a light floral oriental with mandarin orange and pink peppercorn top notes, a lilac and lavender middle and a base of amber and musk.

gucci guilty review
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Have You Ever Finished a Bottle of Perfume?

September 16th, 2010 by Karen 85 Comments

Dior J’adore (left) and Laura Mercier Eau de Lune (right)

I realized something the other day as I was rifling through my perfume stash…

I don’t think I’ve ever completely finished a bottle of perfume. Not ever (at least as far as I can remember).

Mind you, I’ve come close with my bottles of J’adore (which I’ve had since 2001) and Laura Mercier Eau de Lune, but at this rate I’ll be lucky to polish one of them off by the turn of the next century, LOL!

How about you? Have you ever finished a bottle of perfume, and do you remember what it was?

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Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Paco Rabanne 1 Million for Men: Yes, It’s Shaped Like a Gold Bar

September 15th, 2010 by Karen 20 Comments

paco rabanne 1 million closeup

Now shipping, the new favorite fragrance of Fort Knox’s male employees, 1 Million Eau de Toilette ($69)!

Okay, maybe not, but doesn’t the bottle look just like a gold bar?

“Excuse me, sir, but I think that’s my gold bar you have there. It must have fallen out of my pocket (?).”

Since I’ve been baptizing myself on an almost daily basis lately with Paco Rabanne Lady Million, I couldn’t wait to try the version for men, particularly after MBB reader Kim said that it was the bestselling fragrance in duty free stores.

Sure, the bottle has that Monopoly-meets-a-Spanish galleon vibe, but it’s growing on me. I appreciate the clean lines, and I think the design authentically represents the scent.

El Hub likes the bottle. He called it “shiny” (man of few words) and said it could double as a weapon — which is a good thing, apparently.

Yeah, I guess this one’s marketed for boys, LOL! 🙂

paco rabanne 1 million front
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Fragrance

Written by Katie

Have you ever finished a bottle of perfume?